Floodwaters, driven by months of relentless rain and by extreme spring heat that accelerated the melting of glaciers, have covered a third of Pakistan, an area larger than England and Wales combined, affecting 33 million people
When the swollen Swat River shifted course in late August and roared into Naeem Ullah’s village in northwest Pakistan, it swept away his home and all 13 of his relatives’ houses too.
More than 1,300 people have died, according to Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority, and the cost of the damage is estimated at $10 billion, with 1.6 million homes lost or damaged, 5,000 km of roads destroyed and over 700,000 livestock gone. In Awaran district, in hard-hit southwest Balochistan province, floods in some areas still stretch toward the horizon, having destroyed many of the impoverished province’s mud homes.
Many residents are angry, he added, “but most of them are just feeling helpless. There is no one to take care of them, and no one cares about them.”With Pakistan saddled by heavy debt and international humanitarian agencies overwhelmed by global demand for assistance, Pakistan’s families may have to fund much of the cost of recovery themselves.
Sher Alam, 47, of Mera Khel Sholgara village on the outskirts of Charsadda city, lost his sugarcane crop after heavy floods swept his land on Aug. 26. The United Nations’ Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has said that about 2 million acres of crops have been spoiled by flooding in Pakistan, which could not only affect the economy but also put food security at risk.
“There are some people who have savings but most of the population, particularly in Balochistan … survive on daily work. But the work is affected by the floods, so they are not getting paid. They are suffering drastically,” the student said.
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